Heel and heel-seat fitting



Jan. 14, 1936. G AZELT N Er A 2,027,431

HEEL AND HEEL SEAT FITTING Filed Dec. 23, 1933 Patented Jan. 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEEL AND HEEL-SEAT FITTING Application December 23, 1933, Serial No. 703,730 In Great Britain July 1, 1933 13 Claims.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and is illustrated as embodied in a novel heel and with reference to improvements in fitting heels to shoes.

In United States Letters Patent No. 1,984,453, granted December 18, 1934 on an application filed in the names of Bates, Barclay and I-Iazelton there is described an improved method of shoemaking in which heels built up from lifts are trimmed to shape and are preferably scoured before attachment to shoes. It' is an object of this invention to provide an improved heel and heel-seat construction which may be advantageously used in the manufacture of shoes provided with heels such as those described in the above United States Letters Patent No. 1,984,453.

In accordance with one feature of the present invention, the breast of the heel illustrated herein is provided with a groove which extends from one side of the heel to the other, one side of the groove terminating substantially at the front edge of the attaching face of the heel. The groove is illustrated as V-shaped in cross section and is of suitable size to receive the beveled rear end of a short sole secured to a shoe to which the heel is to be attached. By reason of the presence of the above-described groove, the upper end of the breast of the heel is provided with a projecting lip which terminates in a feather edge, and with a sole-supporting ledge which is spaced from and underlies the lip, the lip in the finished shoe being positioned between the shoe upper and the beveled rear end of the sole positioned within the groove. In attaching the heel to the shoe, one or more heel attaching nails are driven through the lip and the beveled portion of the sole within the groove. When the heel has been attached to the shoe, the lateral portions of the beveled rear end of the outsole which project beyond the sides of the heel are trimmed flush with the sides of the heel.

The invention in its method aspect comprises forming in the breast of a heel a groove which extends transversely of the heel from one side of the heel to the other and one side of which terminates substantially at the front edge of the attaching face of the heel, trimming the rear end of a short sole attached to a shoe to a shape suitable for engagement within the groove, positioning the heel upon the shoe and causing the trimmed end of the sole to engage within the groove, pressing the heel against the shoe, and attaching the heel to the shoe and simultaneously therewith securing the trimmed end of the sole in the groove.

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a built-up heel which has been trimmed to size and the breast of which has been grooved;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the heel end of an inverted shoe the rear portion of the short sole of which has been beveled for engagement 10 within the groove illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side View of the rear part of a shoe provided with a heel and the sole construction such as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 respectively;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of another form of m built-up heel which may be used in place of the heel illustrated in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a side view of the rear part of a shoe provided with a heel such as shown in Fig. 4.

The heel 28 shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing is constructed for attachment to a shoe 22 to which a short sole it is secured and is constructed of a plurality of lifts, the top lift 26 being constructed of leather as are preferably one or two of the lifts adjacent thereto. In order to 25 lighten the heel 2t and to reduce the cost of the same the other lifts of the heel, with the exception of the lift 28 of the attaching surface of the heel, may be made of fibre board. The lift 28 is formed to provide the heel with a suitably shaped atso taching face 30 and is preferably made of leather in order to insure that it shall be durable.

The illustrated heel 26 has already been trimmed to a suitable shape and has been secured as disclosed in the above-mentioned United States 35 Letters Patent No. 1,984,453. In order to support the rear end of the short sole 2d the heel is provided with a groove or slot 32 which is V-shaped in cross section and is positioned adjacent to the forward edge 34 of the attaching face 3!) of 0 the heel and extends from one side of the heel to the other. The forward edge 34 of the attaching face 38 of the heel is concave, as viewed from the front of the heel and accordingly the groove 32 is laterally curved to the same extent as the (5 front or forward edge 34 of the attaching face 30 and is in substantially parallel relation therewith. The upper side of the groove 32 termihates substantially at the forward edge 34 and may be said to form with the forward part of the 6 attaching face a projecting lip 36 which is wedge shaped. The lower side of the groove 32 which is of considerable depth and supports the rear beveled portion 38 of the sole may be referred to as a sole-supporting ledge which is spaced from and i underlies the projecting lip or wedge 36. cross section of the groove 32 which tapers in a heelward direction may vary in accordance with the shape of the tapered or beveled portion 38 (Fig. 2) formed at the rear end of the sole 24, the groove 32 being approximately the full thickness of the shank portion 40 of the sole at the breast 42 of the heel and being substantially similar in shape to the beveled portion 38 of the sole in order that the sole will completely fill up the groove 32.

As in ordinary heel making practice the heel 20 is subjected to a compressing operation and it has been found advantageous to make use of a special die for engaging the attaching face 30 of the heel, which die has a pronounced rim of about A; to of an inch in thickness formed around its curved marginal portion. This serves to impress upon the heel a flattened rim 44 which insures the formation of a neat joint between the heel and the counter portion of the shoe.

The short sole 24 may be tapered by a suitable machine such, for instance, as that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,017,151, granted October 15, 1935, on an application filed in the the names of Hazelton, James, and Bacon.

By utilizing a short sole 24 in the manner above described it is possible to save considerably on the cost of soles.

In applying the heel to the shoe the grooved heel is positioned upon the heel-seat portion 46 (Fig. 2) of the shoe with the beveled portion 38 of the sole engaging within the groove 32 (Fig. 1) as above stated. The sole 24 is trimmed to a predetermined length so that when the heel is correctly positioned upon the shoe upper 22 the beveled portion 38 of the sole engages snugly within the groove 32. After the heel 20 has been positioned upon the shoe it is attached to the shoe upper by a plurality of nails 48 (Fig. 3) which are driven from the inside of the heel, at least two of which nails pass through the beveled portion 38 of the sole, the heel being forced with considerable pressure against the shoe upper 22 preparatory to driving the nails 48. It will be clear that pressure applied to the heel 20 causes the heel firmly to grip the beveled portion 38 of the sole and since the heel retaining nails 48 are driven into the heel from the inside of the shoe when the shoe is under pressure, not only will the end of the sole be held securely in place, but when the heel is released the nails which pass through the rear portion of the sole serve to retain the parts in compressed relation and there is, therefore, little tendency for the joint subsequently to gap. In cases where the sole projects laterally of the heel after the heel-attaching operation such projecting material is trimmed and the upper forward corners of the heel are jointed with the lateral edges of the shank portion of the sole.

The groove 32 may be quickly and effectively formed by the use of a machine such as that described and claimed in an application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 758,16 l, filed December 19, 1934, which is a division of the present application.

In Figs. 4 and 5 another type of joint between a heel 98 and a shoe I00 is shown. Such joint may also be used advantageously in connection with the trimming and the skiving system described in the above-mentioned United States Letters Patent No. 1,984,453, and requires the use of a sole I02 which is slightly longer than The the sole 24 used in the construction illustrated in Fig. 3.

The heel 98 is provided with an attaching face the rear portion I04 of which is concave and has its marginal rim I06 disposed substantially in a plane, and the forward portion I08 of which has the general form of a concave cylindrical surface which extends from one side of the heel to the other and the elements of which are disposed generally lengthwise of the heel and are inclined at a substantial angle to the plane of the rim I06. The forward portion of the attaching face of the surface IE8 is formed by skiving a lift I I0 at its attaching face before the lift is built into the heel. After the heel 98 has been built up it is compressed by a special die employed to shape the attaching face as illustrated in Fig. 4. The outsole I82 of the shoe I00 to which the heel is attached is beveled at its rear end to a shape complemental to the surface I08.

In order for the sole to be precisely complemental tothe heel it is desirable to form the bevel on the tread face of the sole as distinguished from on the flesh side of the sole, as illustrated in Fig. 2. However, it has been found that satisfactory results are obtained if the bevel is made on the flesh side of the sole, since when the heel is attached to the shoe the sole will bend upwardly slightly to conform to the shape of the surface I08 of the heel.

When shoes are provided with the joint illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, in some cases it may be desirable to apply glue between the opposing surfaces of the sole and the heel in order to insure that the beveled portion of the sole is retained in close engagement with the heel during the life of the shoe. It has been found that when two or more heel-attaching nails pass through the beveled portion 38 of the outsole into the heel a tight joint is usually provided between the sole and the heel and it is unlikely that any gaps will appear even though the gluing operation is not performed.

When the heel has been attached to the shoe the trimming operation is performed on the marginal edge portions of the beveled rear end thereof in order to bring such portions flush with the side surfaces of the heel, the jointing operation next being performed to cause the lateral edges of the shank portion of the sole to merge attractively with the sides of the heel, the joint finally being subjected to an abrasive member in order to smooth the same.

Having described our invention, what We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A heel having in its breast a groove which extends transversely of the heel and is positioned adjacent to the forward edge of the attaching face of the heel, said groove tapering in width and being constructed to receive the rear end of a short sole of a shoe to which the heel is to be attached.

2. A heel the breast of which is provided with a groove which extends from one side of the heel to the other and one side of which terminates substantially at the front edge of the attaching face of the heel.

3. A heel the breast of which is provided with a groove which is V-shaped in cross section and extends from one side of the heel to the other, one of the sides of said groove being disposed in angular relation to the forward portion of the attaching face of the heel to form a thin flexible wedge which may be positioned between the shoe upper and the rear end of a short sole positioned within the groove.

4. A heel the breast portion or which is provided with a curved groove tapering in width which extends from one side of the heel to the other and is shaped to receive the rear end portion of a short sole secured to a shoe upper to which the heel is to be attached, one of the sides of the groove terminating substantially at the forward edge of the attaching face of the heel to provide a wedge-shaped portion shaped for reception between the shoe upper and the sole.

5. A heel having at the upper end of its breast a projecting lip which terminates in a feather edge, and provided with a sole-supporting ledge which is spaced from and underlies substantially the entire lip.

6. A Cuban heel having at the upper end of its breast a projecting lip the under side of which terminates at the forward edge of the attaching face of the heel, and having a ledge which is spaced from and underlies substantially the entire lip, the ledge being shaped and arranged to support the rear end of a short outsole of a shoe to which the heel is to be attached.

7. A shoe having a heel thebreast portion of which is provided with a groove one of the sides of which terminates substantially at the forward edge of the attaching face of the heel to provide a wedge-shaped portion, and having a short sole the rear end of which is shaped and arranged for reception within the groove and is held forcibly in engagement with the wedge-shaped portion of the heel to joint the heel and the shank portion of the sole of the shoe.

8. A shoe provided with a heel having in its breast a groove of V-shaped cross section which extends from one side of the heel to the other and one of the sides of which terminates substantially at the forward edge of the attaching face of the heel to provide the heel with a wedge portion, and having a short sole the rear end of which is of a shape complemental to that of the groove and is engaged within the groove, said rear end of the sole and said wedge portion of the heel being forced in engagement with each other to provide an effective joint between the shoe and the heel.

9. A shoe provided with a heel having in its breast portion a laterally curved groove of V- shaped cross section which extends from one side of the heel to the other and one of the sides of which terminates substantially at the forward edge of the attaching face of the heel to provide the heel with a wedge-shaped portion, a short sole the rear end of which is of a shape complemental to that of the groove and engaged within the groove, and heel-attaching nails one or more of which pass through the V-shaped portion of the heel and the end portion of the sole within the groove to retain the sole in the groove and to hold the end portion of the sole and the wedge-shaped portion of the heel forced together 5 under pressure.

10. A shoe provided with a heel having at the upper end of its breast a projecting lip which terminates in a feather edge and a ledge which is spaced from and underlies the lip, and having 10 a short'sole the rear end of which is tapered in thickness and is clamped between the lip and the ledge.

11. That improvement in methods of fitting heels to shoes which comprises forming in the 15 breast of the heel of a shoe a groove which extendstransverselyot the heel and one side of which terminates substantially at the front edge of the attaching face of the heel, trimming the rear end of a short outside to a shape suitable for reception within the groove, applying the heel to the shoe and causing the trimmed end of the sole to engage within the slot, pressing the heel against the shoe, attaching the same to the shoe and simultaneously therewith securing the trimmed end of the sole in the groove.

12. That improvement in methods of making shoes comprising trimming a built-up heel to final shape, cutting in the breast of the heel a deep groove which is of suitable size to receive the rear end portion of a short outsole attached to a shoe, said groove extending transversely of the heel and having one of its sides terminating substantially at the front edge of the attaching face of the heel, positioning the heel upon the shoe by causing the rear end portion of the sole to engage within the groove, and attaching the heel to the shoe upper and securing the end portion of the sole within the groove.

13. That improvement in methods of mak- 40 ing shoes comprising trimming a built-up heel to final shape, cutting in the breast of the heel a deep groove tapering in width, which groove is of suitable size to receive the rear beveled end portion of a short outsole attached to a shoe upper, said 45 groove extending transversely of the heel and having one of its sides terminating substantially at the front edge of the attaching face of the heel, positioning the heel upon the shoe by causing the beveled rear end portion of the sole to en- 50 gage within the tapered groove, and attaching the heel to the shoe upper, while the sole is pressed into the groove, by fastenings which extend into the heel and through the portion of the sole within the groove.

5 GEORGE HAZELTON. CYRIL HARRY JAMES. WILLIAM ISAAC BACON. 

